Freedoms Prize

Title: Freedom’s Prize Author: C/AphrodisiacCalifi & LysaPosted: 06/04Rating: N-17Category: Um… Smut/AUContent: C/ASummary: After the battle, Cordelia and Angel discover freedom’s prize is the discovery of their feelings.Spoilers: AtS Season 1, The Ring, set AU from the end of the episode.Disclaimer: The characters in the Angelverse were created by Joss Whedon & David Greenwalt. No infringement is intended, no profit is made.Distribution: AA/GT/JF, anywhere else, just ask.Notes: spur of the moment ficlet.Thanks/Dedication:Feedback: The anticipation alone is killing us!

Freedom accompanied the scent of electrified flesh, sweat and blood. The screaming patrons of Club XXI fled the underground Beechwood Canyon gladiator ring with a speed equaled only by those previously held within its walls. Their captivity ended thanks to the timely arrival of Wesley Wyndham-Pryce and Cordelia Chase bearing a horsehair key designed to open the mystic silver bracelets binding them within the arena.

Fighting in the ring, Angel had battled Trepkos, an enslaved demon determined to win his freedom by achieving his twenty-first kill. The acrobatic fight combined dexterity and brute strength, the demon more than an equal match for the vampire. With the quick strike of a sharp wooden staff, Trepkos hit it off Angel’s left thigh, gashing deep from front to back. Taking back the offensive, ripping the staff away from his own flesh, Angel downed his opponent and held the deadly shard to his throat.

Through a moment of mercy or simply unwillingness to take the demon’s life in a fight that was designed for sick amusement, Angel nearly lost the battle. Chaos raged around them, the chanting of the club patrons shouting, “Killing blow, killing blow,” sounded in his ears. Through it, one voice lifted above them all: Cordelia, shouting his name.

Doubled-over, Angel’s eyes lifted toward the sound, knowing that Trepkos now stood above him, fist at the ready. The blow never came. Mercy now returned to the one who had given it. The infuriated club owner, Darin McNamara, pulled a gun on them only to tumble down into the pit seconds later, sent there by Cordelia who knocked him over the head with a metal stand.

Now free, the demons poured from their cages into the arena itself. McNamara paid for his crimes against them with his life as those he held captive took back theirs.

“Angel, you don’t look so good,” Cordelia’s eyes swept over the vampire from head to toe as Wesley supported him on the way out of the club. Ignoring the possibility of damaging the delicate white Chinese silk of her evening dress and shawl, she wrapped her arm around his back.

Damned relieved that he was there at all, Angel limped beside them as they moved toward their car. The dark pools of his eyes met hers, but he said nothing, merely accepting her help by slipping his arm over her shoulder.

With her free hand on his abdomen, Cordelia noted the angry gash in his thigh now congealed with dried blood and sticking to the ripped threads of his pants. Gulping down her initial reaction, she forced a smile onto her face. “Well, it’s a good thing you heal fast.”

“Yeah,” Angel answered stepping through the stabbing pain shooting through his leg every time he moved it. Much better than it was five minutes ago. Only hurt when he walked. “It’s a good thing you found me in time.”

Her relief at the fact that Angel was still with them was echoed by Wesley who added his wholehearted agreement, “No.”

“Well,” Cordelia added, “I mean, beyond the slavery and the severe beatings and stuff. Wesley came up with the key!”

Feeling his skin flush at the credit she gave him, Wesley humbly pointed out, “But Cordelia came up with the key to the key! In a clinch moment.”

The remainder of their conversation on the way home centered around the fact that while they all agreed they’d done a good thing by shutting down McNamara’s club and setting the captives free, they had actually freed a bunch of demons.

Wesley drove them back to the AI Offices, Cordelia in the front, but looking back at Angel who was stretched out on the back seat. He held a hand against his leg as if he was still in pain. Though he’d heal, she knew he needed to get some blood in him and to have that wound cleaned out. There might be little wood particles caught in the wound.

Arriving at Angel Investigations, they helped him down to his apartment, though it appeared to Wesley that the vampire was already moving along much better and barely needed support. “Now that everything appears to be getting back to normal, I think I’ll pop on home. Cordelia, would you like a ride?”

“I’m not leaving yet,” she gave Wes a look that said it should be obvious. “Injured vampire, here.”

“I’ll be fine,” Angel answered automatically.

Cordelia tossed her silk wrap down on the arm of a chair. “Well, you will be when I’m finished with you, buddy.”

Stifling a yawn, Wesley decided to head home. He had his motorcycle parked outside and Cordelia could always borrow the Plymouth if necessary. “Good night, then.”

“Good night,” Angel nodded at the Englishman, his eyes conveying his thanks one last time.

Then his attention turned to the woman impatiently tapping pearlescent fingertips against the kitchen countertop. He stared longer than necessary at the way her strapless gown clung to the curves of her breasts and her waist before falling to her ankles. His lips twitched slightly as he noted the matching polished toenails peeking from her sandals.

Only Cordelia would take such care prior to coming to his rescue. When he pointed that out, she squared her shoulders and commented, “Duh! You think they would have let me in if I’d dressed as a bag lady?”

Angel chuckled, the sound changing to a grunt of pain as he took a step toward the refrigerator intending to pour himself a mug of fresh blood. Warding him off, Cordelia gave him a stern look. “You. Bedroom. Now. I’ll handle the vamp juice.”

Waiting for Angel’s blood to warm up, Cordelia realized her evening gown was not exactly the thing to be wearing for tonight’s Florence Nightingale session. The nasty wound might bleed and she didn’t want to completely ruin the chances of returning the gown to the store in the morning. Grabbing the mug of heated blood, Cordelia turned to join the vampire in his bedroom.

Falling back onto the bed, Angel groaned, quite content to not move for the next century, but the little terror that was Cordelia Chase put that idea into the ground as soon as she entered his room.

“Here we are, big guy, up ya go.” Her bare arm slid beneath his shoulders and he sighed heavily as he eased himself upright, taking most of his weight from her. Reaching up, Angel grabbed the mug and drained it quickly before handing it over and flopping back onto the pillows.

Cordelia set the mug on the nightstand and placing her hands on her hips, looked him over from head to toe critically, again taking in the spread of half-dried blood that had crept up from between his legs. Then she loomed over him.

“I need you to sit up a minute, Angel; think you can do that?” They stared into each other’s eyes for several seconds before he finally levered himself up as she grabbed the edges of his vest. One arm at a time was lifted to remove the soiled and bloody fabric, and it was with a sigh of relief when he finally sank back onto the bed.

The bone weariness melted away at the warm and gentle touch of her fingers against his cool skin. For the last month or two, it seemed no matter how wounded or out of it he was, Angel could never get enough of her touch. Fires stoked each and every time.

The hands disappeared and he couldn’t help but moan in disappointment, and then those fingers were stripping him of his boots and socks before gripping the cuffs of his pants.

“Do you think you can unzip and lift?” Cordelia gave a little tug to show him what she wanted.

Although he could feel his energy level rising with the help of the blood, Angel was still a little disoriented as he fumbled with the button and zip, and it wasn’t until the cool air brushed against his skin that he remembered one not so little thing wrong with her plan. “Cor…”

The pants were yanked off and for a second a blanket of silence hit the room. After a moment, Angel lifted his head and looked towards his feet not that surprised to find an empty space where Cordelia used to be. His mouth twisting wryly, he wondered if the brunette had run for the proverbial hills. At least she hadn’t screamed, or worse, eww’d!

Cordelia Chase had found out the vampire’s preference of going commando, and didn’t she feel red–faced! She fanned her cheeks before grabbing a hand towel, preparing herself for another glimpse of Angel’s parts-that-won’t-be-mentioned-again.

Fair enough, she wasn’t exactly innocent. Well, not after that incident with Wilson. Not that that particular night was anything to write home about; and he definitely couldn’t match the vampire in the groin department, but it was still a shock.

“Oh, boy,” she muttered softly, “and that’s when he’s at ease!” Her mind boggled. With another deep, calming breath she returned to the bedroom to find him the way she left him, exposed to her rather shy, but impressed eyes.

Angel had made no attempt to cover up and she wasn’t sure if that was because he was too tired to realize he was buck nekkid, or he just didn’t really care what she saw. Straightening her spine, she walked over draping the towel carefully over his hips, refusing to look higher than his broad chest.

Angel was built. Dear God was he! Maybe she should have asked Wes to stay and do this instead. But even as that thought crossed her mind, she rejected it. Nope. If her vampire was hurt, she wanted to be there.

Her vampire…now didn’t that sound all-proprietary! Who was she kidding? Cordelia had secretly thought of Angel as hers for a couple of months now, and he starred in her fantasies and dreams on a frequent basis. Now she’d had an eyeful, she just knew those fantasies were gonna get raunchier by the second.

Making sure the towel also draped between his legs, Cordelia left again to collect the first aid kit. Angel had remained silent all through, but she could have sworn she’d seen a slight quirk of amusement on his chiseled mouth when she’d dared to glance up, at her discreet covering of his parts.

“Angel, I need you t—to open your legs more. Can you manage that?” Even as she spoke, her hands rested uncertainly on the tops of his heavy muscular thighs. After a slight pause, Angel spread his legs, stifling a small groan as he did so.

Cordelia let out a breath of relief when the towel still remained safely intact. The vampire was naked except for that and he was a very enjoyable sight. Turning to the open first aid box, she gathered up cotton wool and liquid antiseptic.

Angel watched her through his thick lashes. Her whole posture screamed embarrassment, even as the faint scent of arousal wafted the air; rich, warm and intoxicating.

He cursed the slow stirring of his sex, but was unable to prevent it, and when the brunette turned back towards him he didn’t miss the instant stiffening of her body, which made him grin a little, as it seemed they both had that problem right now, going by her peaked nipples under the thin satin of her dress.

Taking a deep breath, Cordelia attempted to ignore the slow movement under the towel, praying that the covering wouldn’t shift; even though a small part of her wanted to see him in his full erect glory.

“Sorry about that,” Angel’s slightly husky voice lifted her face to his, and realizing what he meant, she blushed a rosy hue.

“S’okay, it’s just a natural reaction. I know I could be anyone, and this isn’t exactly an every day thing is it?” ducking her head, she tentatively reached down to cleanse the gaping wound, so glad it wasn’t set too high up his thigh.

Did he mean what she thought he meant? Cordelia shook her head slightly, putting it down to wishful thinking on her part and his to mere rambling due to loss of blood and exhaustion. Angel caught the action and a corner of his mouth lifted. She just didn’t get it.

The past month or two, his body had reacted to her every time she got within touching distance, but usually, his black, slightly loose pants mostly hid the evidence. He debated whether or not to push it, and then decided he wasn’t in any fit state to go chasing after her if she ran. Better to lie back and wait for his moment. He had time. Hiding in the dark was not an option any more.

Now that the curse had no loopholes, thanks to Wes and his endless search for a ‘cure’ he was free to pursue that path, and the vampire was more than ready. Denial didn’t keep you warm at night, and he yearned for Cordelia’s special brand of heat.

Only she could quench that particular fire. He corrected himself; he doubted that fire would ever be quenched in her, as she was the one that had him burning in the first place.

As the towel gradually tented, Cordelia became more fidgety, her thighs unconsciously rubbing together, the vampire’s nostrils flaring as the scent of her arousal intensified. He became rock hard in an instant, throbbing painfully on also noting her subtle sensual movements.

Cordelia let out a slight sound of irritation as she attempted to tend to the wound. It wasn’t in the best of places, and ended at the crease of his ass. Unless she split him like a wishbone, there was no way she could reach it properly. Her bottom lip disappeared between her teeth worrying it as she tried to figure out how to get round it.

“Straddle me,” the two words snapped her head up in shock as he posed a simple solution.

“The only way you’re gonna get to it is by straddling me,” he elucidated softly. “Would that be a problem for you?” he added a healthy dose of daring as the words tumbled from his mouth. Instantly her shoulders tensed.

Cordelia Chase was no coward, and if it meant straddling her hot, hunky boss then that is what she’d have t— Crap! Words were so much easier than actions; and then there was the sheath of a dress she wore. Not exactly the perfect item to wear for bedroom gymnastics, even those with medicinal intent.

Pfft! Who was she kidding? She groaned inwardly as scorching scenarios flashed through her head.

“Cordelia?” Angel interrupted her kaleidoscopic thoughts. Glancing from his hips to her dress, and then to his face, which was practically blank, she was sure she saw a flicker of a living flame in those dark, dark eyes.

“Look, just leave it, I’ll do it myself,” he added, half groaning as he attempted to sit up; the sound of pain exaggerated shamelessly. Instantly a small hot hand pressed on his chest and urged him back down.

“You have no chance of doing it by yourself, so lie back and take it like a man…pire.” She again bit her lip as she inwardly repeated her own words. Flicking anxious eyes over his face, she was glad to find it still pretty expressionless.

Cordelia looked down at her ankle length dress and figured no way, no straddling in that tight sheath. Not unless she wanted it turning into an expensive but bulky belt. “I’m gonna need to borrow a shirt,” she murmured, missing the sudden lift of his brows as she surprised him with her acquiescence.

Without waiting for a reply, she opened his closet and routed through it until satisfied, she pulled out a navy blue dress shirt. “Won’t be a minute,” she spoke in a deliberately cheerful tone, but Angel easily picked up on the edge of nerves she attempted to hide from him. He watched her retreat to the bathroom with brooding eyes, a spill of thoughts racing frantically through his mind.

Soon Cordelia Chase would be straddling his body, her long limbs embracing him. In one of his shirts and little else, he imagined. With a dress like that, a bra was a total impossibility and the satin fine enough to need the most delicate of panties. The heated thoughts spiraled down to his turgid shaft and he stifled a deep groan.

Having her wear something of his next to that delectable bare satiny skin…. if he’d had a pulse it would be hammering away now, but then again the throb of his shaft more than made up for that lack.

Faster than he’d thought possible Cordelia returned, and from the look on her face, it seemed a case of do it now or freak out and run for the door. Damn, that shirt looked a hell of a lot better on her than it did on him. The golden length of her legs beckoned to his hands and mouth and when she slipped off her sandals and tentatively approached the bed, his whole body tensed.

He seriously hoped his self-control was strong enough to stop at just a touch; if she were lucky, that was all he would do.

Placing the first aid kit on the far side of the bed near his knee, Cordelia again assessed her next move. She avoided his dark gaze and attempted to regulate her breathing.

Kneeling on the edge of the bed, Cordelia eased a thigh over, and carefully placed her knee on the bed. Settling just below his ribs, she was glad she was faced towards his feet. She jumped a little when he shifted and a powerful leg lifted, bending at the knee, supposedly giving her better access.

Careful not to disturb the covered flagpole inches from her belly, Cordelia leaned over and, reaching for some more cotton wool, began the task of cleaning out the rest of the wound. Tiny wooden shrapnel had kept the wound from closing properly and she could see an immediate improvement as the torn flesh was cleared of the obstruction.

Angel didn’t know whether he was in heaven or hell. Completely distracted by Cordelia herself, he barely noted the sharp sting of the peroxide. Her hot breath whispered against his inner thigh, and as she leaned forward, his shirt shifted, the tail pulling to the side, giving him a bird’s eye view of a perfect golden ass only covered by a thin strip of white silk between her cheeks. A thong…he should have guessed, but swallowed hard at the reality. Thankfully, or not, her core nestled against his flesh, so his head wasn’t ready to explode…yet.

His sex twitched and brushed against her belly, and he held an unneeded breath when her hand froze for a second. Then she shimmied back an inch.

Hell, yeah, he had amazing, iron control, but there was only so much a vampire with a soul could take, and without his permission, his large hands lifted from his sides and slid along her warm satiny thighs. God, she felt like heaven as his own skin rasped roughly against hers.

When Cordelia didn’t react with much more than a tense of feminine muscles, he became bolder, hands creeping up to her hips and deliberately pushing the irritating shirt higher until it scrunched in his hands around her small waist. He wrapped the folds in one hand, resting it against her belly to free the other.

The exposure of the bottom part of her tattoo drew his fingers, and as he traced the pattern, Cordelia sat up abruptly. “Angel…” she paused, not quite sure what she was about to say. She glanced over one shoulder and he swallowed thickly at the mixed shyness, uncertainty and need that filled her melting caramel gaze; her pupils gradually dilating until the brightest honey ringed them.

“Do you want me to stop?” his voice a husky whisper, a trace of a growl lacing his tone. Their eyes remained connected as her mouth worked silently.

What DID she want? Well, duh! His irises flared with amber as he read her mute reply. “Touch me,” his rough whisper, half demand and half plea, ran over every inch of flesh; his hands rounded her hips smoothing over the skin of her ass.

Almost instantly, Cordelia dropped the cotton wool and stared at his covered sex. Not like she hadn’t touched one before…okay, maybe Xander’s once or twice down the front of his pants, and Wilson’s… but this was Angel. Contemplation was drowned by curiosity, her hands creeping forward of their own accord, and as one pulled away the towel, and the other curled hesitantly around his rigid shaft.

She felt his deep groan vibrate from his gut to her core, the soft flutter of a thousand butterflies swarming low in her belly. Open wide, her eyes caressed every smooth inch of his erection, marveling in the way it felt in her hand as her fingers closed around its thick girth. God, he was even bigger fully engorged! The thought of that filling her and stretching her beyond her limits had a flush of wet heat soaking the tiny triangle of silk between her legs. Her breath caught in her throat as his flesh warmed beneath her touch and she experimentally moved her hand along its length.

Angel moaned gutturally as he felt the moist heat dampen his cool flesh. He had to see more.

Caught up in her own explorations, Cordelia trembled at the molten reaction inside her at the feel of him and the soft, erotic sound that left his lips. Then Angel’s hand slid round working deftly on the buttons of the shirt she’d borrowed. The soft material slipped from her shoulders, but Cordelia couldn’t bring herself to release his marble-hard flesh. Her free arm slid out of the sleeve with his help and she quickly swapped hands to enable him to completely remove the shirt. As soon as it hit the floor, she felt his stomach muscles bunch and flex as he sat upright, his chest brushing her bare back.

As he rose up, her hips slid forward until she almost sat on her own hand. Her soft yelp of surprise intensified on finding herself suddenly held high in the air and swiveled around before she could blink.

In her new position, his chest brushed hers and his sex throbbed, trapped between them. Before she could push back for a little space her loose hair was wrapped around a large hand and her spine arched until her bared breasts were on full display to the vampire. The sound that left his throat sent bolts of desire straight to her core.

“So, so beautiful,” he whispered throatily, his burning eyes raking her tender flesh hungrily before dipping his dark head and engulfing a turgid nipple deep into his mouth.

A trembling gasp left her parting mouth as he sucked hard, the rasp of his cool tongue causing her eyes to roll into the back of her head. Unconsciously, Cordelia undulated in his lap, grinding her hips against his. A moan sounded in the back of his throat, this one not entirely of pleasure, setting off an alarm bell in her head reminding her of his injury.

On a gasp, she froze in place, her body crying its denial as she thought of bringing this to a stop. “You’re still hurt. In pain.” He released her nipple with a pop, lifting his dark head to meet her eyes.

“There’d be more pain if you left me, Cordelia,” he splayed his large hands along her back mapping out its curves only to make the slow upward journey again. “All I feel is you.”

Palming his handsome face, Cordelia stared into those earnest eyes needing to hear from him that this meant half as much to him as it did to her. “Is this just a moment, Angel; a one-time free-for-all that we’re just supposed to forget in the morning? Cos, I really don’t do those.”

A dark light flashed in his gaze like a glimpse of a wounded animal raging inside him. “You think that’s what this is? Cordy, my eyes have followed your every move for weeks. Haven’t you felt it; sensed me wanting you?”

Cordelia dropped a hand to his broad shoulder while the other slipped into the soft hair at the nape of his neck. Even questioning, she still had to touch while talking. “So…you want me. Is that it?”

For an instant, Angel wondered if it was possible for his beautiful, bold and brassy seer to possess such a thing as a thread of insecurity. The tone of her words came so close to the thoughts that passed through his head over the past few weeks. He’d noticed her body’s reaction to his occasional intentional crowding and had been too focused on thinking about what he shouldn’t have to follow his instincts.

Tonight, within seconds of a blow that might have meant his death, Cordelia’s voice had reached him and awakened something that would no longer remain dormant. Why this was different than any other night, or any other fight to the death with countless foes? He could not say. Right now, the whys didn’t matter.

“Much, much more than just ‘want’,” Angel’s body knew the meaning of want, but this exceeded that. Closing in, his mouth nipped her earlobe before speaking into the shell of her ear. “It’s more than just needing you. Do you want me to spell it out?”

The tenderness in his darkening eyes fought with the raging lust and she shook her head. Sometimes words were unneeded. A tiny tremor passed under Cordelia’s soft skin, her body reminding her that wanting and needing weren’t mutually exclusive to what remained unspoken between them. Her hips shifted across his thighs, the move accentuating her inner ache rather than easing it.

Too soon, a thought sparked in her mind. She couldn’t handle hearing him say it, not now, right this second. Because the idea of it felt like an explosion of light, the proverbial bulb flashing a glaring neon hue in her head. It made her heart pound fast and her body leap with those wants and needs that only he could sate.

“Later,” Cordelia told him; her only other answer a bold kiss. Chest to breast, he pulled her flush against him, his moist mouth retaking hers in a deep ravenous embrace. His cool tongue plunged in and conquered hers before retreating and nipping at her lips.

Wriggling a hand between them, Cordelia pressed his erection against the surface of her belly rubbing her hand up its solid length. Bucking in reaction, Angel put a little space between them, though his mouth and hands continued their magic. As her hand caught him, trying out that tentative action that brought the rumbling purr to his chest, Angel slowed up to the same pace.

Cordelia’s tentative touch drove him wild. Even if he hadn’t already known her relative innocence, due to the Wilson incident, her explorative touches screamed the fact, making him harden to an impossible degree at the thought of what he could teach her eager body and hot little hands. His demon practically purred with triumph knowing she was his.

That hot spark of knowledge drove him to command she say it, even as his firm male mouth pressed a series of short kisses along her tingling lips, “Later then. For now, just say you’re mine.”

“You’re mine,” Cordelia smiled against his roving lips, purposefully repeating his words instead of answering that fervent demand. The hot hand locked around him gave him pause to note the sound of a claim in her honeyed voice.

One long, hot kiss followed until Angel broke away to respond rawly, “Always.”

Transfixed upon hearing it, Cordelia’s wanton gaze held a lock on those deep, eternal eyes. Hot licks of pleasure curled up inside her as that word resonated in her head.

“Now say it,” he demanded hotly, his voice a purr that vibrated throughout her whole body.

The truth came out as clear as crystal, simple, unfettered by doubt or a moment of hesitation, “I’m yours.” No need to argue with herself about it. Not when every fiber of her being seemed to shout in recognition of that fact.

Capturing her tongue into his mouth he suckled it sensually, mimicking the movement of her hand, his large hands sweeping along her spine and pausing momentarily to palm the firm globes of her bottom. Angel lifted her, shifting their bodies again, gently setting Cordelia down on the pillows.

Their eyes held intently as Angel knelt beside her, the embodiment of pure male arousal, all muscular angles, jutting flesh and steely strength. Though it was with the gentlest of touches that his fingers skimmed the curve of her cheek and his thumb brushed across her lush lips. Hand turning, Angel trailed the back of his fingers down the soft curve of Cordelia’s throat.

At an infinitesimal pace, he brushed past her breasts, widening the span of his fingers just enough to tease them. Moving on to the flat plain of her belly, his hand flipped again, this time to ring her navel in a circle with his fingertips before dipping down to the elastic edge of her panties.

She licked her lips, suddenly nervous again, her hands now sliding along her ribs as she waited, half expecting Angel to simply give in to the lust that smoldered in his potent gaze and rip them from her. Cordelia’s hips squirmed against the bed in anticipation as she caught her lower lip between her teeth to hold back the stream of urgent pleas about to pour forth.

Angel’s left hand curled around her right thigh, bending her leg at the knee and pulling it into him. She felt his hardness brush against her, but he appeared to ignore that in favor of letting his right hand skim over her silk-covered mound. Just a fleeting touch across the surface of her panties before circling back up to the now tingling flesh of her lower belly.

Then two fingers curled under the elastic edge of her thong combing through the soft curls and stopping when his knuckles hit the barrier. An electric shock zinged through her body causing Cordelia to jerk in reaction and the ache between her thighs increased as though he’d plugged her into an amplifier. Those wandering digits slipped back up.

When his hand curled around her hip, Cordelia thought for certain the panties would be gone. Her hands moved a little lower trying to ease the ache, but knowing it was Angel who had the cure…just out of her reach. The elastic band of the thong stretched with the tug of one finger, but Angel only let it snap back in place leaving a little sting and evoking a feminine moan that had more to do with arousal than irritation.

Any second now, Cordelia felt certain she was just gonna tell him to rip them off. Or maybe do it herself. Only her mouth already seemed to be occupied. Sounds filtered through and she barely recognized her own voice as it dripped in honeyed tones to plea for his touch. Those teasing fingers continued their explorations, now sliding along damp silk and turning again against the hot skin of her inner thigh allowing his thumb to skim below the elastic barrier.

Touching her, his thumb circled rhythmically. Cordelia rocked her hips against him and his name fell from her lips, “Angel,” followed by a low feminine groan. His sensual touch continued until he could taste the scent of her slick arousal on the back of his tongue as he breathed in deep.

Both hands moved to her hips, fingers dipping under the elastic, but only to pull the tiny piece of silk with a gentle tug. Cordelia held his gaze until his dark eyes dropped down to watch her feminine curls come into view as he slipped her thong panties over her hips. She shivered as they slid along her thighs and watched as Angel pulled them over her knees and down to her ankles.

Holding up her feet, Cordelia let him remove the panties and watched as Angel suddenly twirled them on his finger, giving her a darkly mischievous smirk. “Nice to see them on you, Cordy, but taking them off was even better.”

A laugh bubbled up until it lit her whole face. Cordelia reached up and snatched her panties out of Angel’s hand, stuffing them under the pillows behind her. He dove for the bed, landing next to her in a side-lying position, and reaching out to curve his hand over her hip. Wanting to be in his arms, Cordelia leaned into his touch, grasped his rock-hard shoulder and sighed with contentment as her body contacted his.

Angel’s hand slipped downward from her hip, the gentle pressure leading her to shift her leg over his sinewy thigh. The center of her heat pressed into him and they both let out an audible response, Angel’s hand tightening and pulling her that much closer. His mouth was on her face, her lips, her throat and Cordelia arched against him. As her calf wound around him instinctively locking him in place, his hold loosened stroking upward to palm the generous curve of her breast, thumb circling across the satiny mound and teasing its dusky peak.

The anticipation alone was starting to make Cordelia antsy, her body throbbing in response to his and expecting him at any moment to fit their bodies together and take her on a one-way road to ecstasy. There was no doubt in her mind Angel knew how to pleasure a woman and she was a tangle of excitement just thinking about it.

There he was staring into her eyes as if trying to memorize every fleck of gold in her caramel orbs and while the look on Angel’s handsome face left her melting at its intensity, Cordelia couldn’t take it another second. Kiss me. Now. Touch me. Now. Stare much? Want you now. Make love to me. Nownownownownow.